This is a blog about Watson's fight with canine lymphoma and the healthy changes we are making for his little brother Waldo. Watson was my best friend and my love; what we learned from Watson’s ordeal was not learned in vain.

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Watson's History

Watson, our beagle/basset mix, was adopted into the Frembes family in January 2005 at the ripe young age of 10(ish). He came to our house with his foster mother from the BONES shelter and I instantly fell in love. He had overcome an abusive past and had the facial paralysis to prove it, but he looked up at me and that was it. He was home.

After two years and seven months of wonderful, healthy years with us, Watson was diagnosed with lymphoma on July 18, 2007. He fought hard in a short amount of time. My sweet boy crossed the Rainbow Bridge on August 16, 2007. He is loved and missed.

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Hatchlings

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Thursday, August 9, 2007

So we made the decision to let the Old Man sleep through the night rather than waking him up for a bathroom break. I lined his bed and the surrounding floor with piddle pads "just in case" and it's a good thing that I did. The poor guy sleeps so soundly that there are...shall we say... leaks. But the pads did their job and he still woke up fairly dry. The bed was dry as a bone too. He was finally able to sleep through the night and get some good rest. I don't think he barely budged from the time we went to sleep to the time I woke him up!

He ate a good breakfast of boiled chicken, Canidaedry food and pumpkin (for GI health). I'm glad to have found the Canidae brand as it is so much better for dogs, better even than top brands like Iams or Nutro. The dry formula uses four human-grade meats (chicken, turkey, lamb and fish) and also has probiotics and digestive enzymes added. Of course, you pay for all that goodness too but I think it's worth every cent. I've learned so much about canine nutrition in the past month; Waldo's diet has changed for the better too.

On another note, I grew up as a carnivore but since meeting Veggie Rich I am slowly becoming an herbivore. So now it's weird to roll out of bed and put on some meat for Watson. I don't make a habit of cooking meat at home (but I will order it when eating out) so I am not used to touching/cutting/smelling/cooking it at home. I can say though that the smell of boiled beef in the morning truly makes me ill. But Watson seems to love it, so I should just stop whining.

Speaking of whining, I have also been asked by the oncologist to take his temp twice a day. "Hmmm, how do I do that?," I wondered. "Rectally," he answered. Oh.... This is my life, people, this is my life.